Gabriel’s eyes didn’t leave mine. “Careful what you wish for,” I’d said, but he didn’t flinch. If anything, that stubborn blue fire burned brighter.
He reached back with one hand and pushed the bedroom door until it latched, the soft click loud in the quiet room. “I’m wishing,” he said. “Show me.”
I leaned back in the chair, studying him for a long beat. “If I do this, you don’t get to unknow it. You don’t get to pretend later it was a trick or a dream.”
“I won’t,” he said, voice low but steady. “I want to see you. The real you.”
The way he said it landed deep. My pulse thudded in my ears. I stood slowly, feeling the tension coil tight in my muscles. The air in the room shifted, heavier somehow.
“This stays between us,” I warned. “No one else. Not your grandparents. Not your dad. And especially not Nathan.”
Gabriel nodded once. “You have my word.”
I let the breath out, long and controlled. My skin prickled, heat pooling in my core before it bled outward. Fingers lengthened, nails darkening and curving into claws. Fur rippled over my hands, arms, spreading across my shoulders and down my neck. My face tightened, shifted, bones reshaping in a slow grind that always felt half-pain, half-release. Ears lifted, pulling sound in sharper, the ticking of the clock on his desk suddenly loud as a metronome.
By the time it settled, I was standing there in full—taller, broader, the room somehow smaller around me. Blue eyes locked on his, wolf-ring burning like a storm front around the iris.
Gabriel’s breath caught, not in fear, but in awe. He stepped forward, close enough I could feel the warmth coming off him. His hand lifted slowly, hesitating for just a second before resting against my forearm. Fingers traced the line of muscle under the fur, brushing over where skin met claw.
“Holy… shit,” he whispered. “You’re… beautiful.”
That one word hit me harder than I expected. I almost laughed, but it came out as a low, amused rumble in my chest. “Not the first thing people usually say.”
“Well, people are idiots,” he said without looking away. His hand drifted to my shoulder, testing the weight, then to my jawline where the fur was shortest. “It’s… you. Just… more.”
I leaned down slightly so we were eye to eye. “This is the part they tried to beat out of me,” I said. “The part they locked away.”
“They failed,” he said instantly. “And I’m glad they did.”
I didn’t realize how tight my fists had curled until I forced them to loosen. For a moment, neither of us spoke—the only sounds were the faint hum of the house and the distant creak of floorboards somewhere beyond the closed door.
Then I heard it—Nathan’s footsteps coming down the hall, light and quick. The door handle twitched like he was about to barge in… and then stopped dead. There was a pause, and without a word, his retreating steps carried him away again at twice the speed.
Gabriel’s lips curved into a slow grin. “Guess you don’t even have to say anything.”
I smirked, a low growl of agreement vibrating in my chest. “Some lessons… stick.”